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‘I couldn’t even talk to my friends about it’
Updated On: 07 July, 2024 08:00 AM IST | Mumbai | Aastha Atray Banan
It’s the precursor to the big M, but little is known about it. Brain fog, insomnia, palpitations, that stubborn, stubborn belly—Here’s why women in their 40s are now talking, sharing and trying to make sense of Perimenopause
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Shamita Shetty shared her experiences last year in November. “I was having palpitations, and had no clue what was happening”; Rani Kaur’s biggest supporter in her Perimenopause years is her 21-year-old son. Pic/Nishad Alam; Mini Mathur is studying women’s health in the US, as she wants to give information after she has a legitimate degree
I didn`t know anything about Perimenopause. I couldn’t understand what was happening. We women are driven by our hormones, and they are going crazy. I was having palpitations, and trying to make sense of it. Even most gynaecologists don’t know about it, or talk about it,” says actor Shamita Shetty, who spoke about her experiences in November of 2023, after her stint at Bigg Boss. Along with intense palpitations, she had put on weight, which was refusing to budge, and her mind would drift away in the middle of conversations. “I hadn’t even had this conversation with my own friends. When I finally did speak about it, many of them said ‘we are going through the same!’”
Shetty, 45, is different from most women who are suffering from Perimenopause because of one reason—she finally knows what’s happening to her, and is working on it. “Meditation has helped me, sitting down and hearing my thoughts, yes, that’s helped me.” Most women go through middle age only realising why they are feeling what they are feeling when their periods stop. Roughly speaking, the definition of Perimenopause is the time around menopause when your ovaries gradually stop working. In 2023, a study by Elda Health titled State of Menopausal Health in India said that almost 150 million women in India are suffering from Perimenopause and Menopause right now. “Figures are tentative, because most women never talk about it, or declare it,” Swathi Kulkarni, co-founder and CEO of Elda Health told us. The study revealed that 98 per cent of women in menopausal age largely only visit gynaecologists for heavy bleeding or vaginal discharge issues, while period-related symptoms such as hot flashes, sexual health concerns, and mental health issues often go unaddressed. Other symptoms that women face include fatigue, sadness, hair fall, weight gain, anger, anxiety, various types of body pains, insomnia, memory loss, and skin issues. Even when we asked around for women suffering from Perimenopause, responses revealed that many didn’t see it as different from Menopause. Perimenopause could start as early as your late 30s, and go on for 10 years before you hit Menopause.
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